Legislative Update

Regional Measure 2
Questions and Answers

What projects are included in the expenditure plan?
The expenditure plan — also known as the Regional Traffic Relief Plan — includes a variety of projects addressing the following major goals: (1) new public transit in bridge corridors, (2) seamless and safe transit connections, and (3) traffic bottleneck relief in the bridge corridors. The plan will provide $1.5 billion in capital investments, such as BART and other commuter rail extensions and new bus purchases. Specific investments include:

• Seismic strengthening of the transbay BART tube, which carries about 100,000 riders per day: $143 million
  
• BART extensions and commuter rail improvements: $484 million
  
• Express bus infrastructure: $302 million
  
• San Francisco Transbay Terminal, which will serve as a key regional hub for an estimated 27 million transit riders annually in 2020: $150 million
  
• Freeway bottleneck/carpool-lane improvements: $110 million
  
• Solano County Interstate 80/Interstate 680 corridor improvements: $100 million
  
• Fourth bore for the Caldecott Tunnel: $50.5 million
  
• Ferry service enhancements: $84 million
  
• Safe routes to transit/bicycle and pedestrian improvements: $20 million

In addition to capital investments, the plan includes operating funds for commuter rail, express and enhanced bus and ferry service, recognizing that covering operating costs for regional transit are a critical element in improving service. The plan dedicates up to 38 percent of total annual revenues to transit operations, an amount expected to reach approximately $48 million annually by 2016 and thereafter.

Funds are designated for specific transit operators and for express bus programs in the North, Central and South Bay. These investments include:

• Dumbarton rail: $5.5 million annually
  
• Ferry service: $18.3 million annually
  
• Express bus service: $12.3 million annually
  
• AC Transit: $3 million annually
  
• San Francisco Muni: $2.5 million annually
  
• Night owl bus service in BART corridors: $1.8 million annually

How will the toll increase work?
The current toll of $2 (charged in one direction only) for autos and two-axle trucks would go up to $3, effective July 1, 2004. Fees for larger trucks likewise would rise by $1. The toll increase would affect the seven state-owned toll bridges, but not the Golden Gate Bridge which is run by a separate district and already charges a $5 auto toll.

How much will the $1 surcharge generate?
Approximately $125 million annually.

When will the toll increase go into effect?
The toll increase will be effective on July 1, 2004.

When did voters last raise tolls and how was the money spent?
RM 2 is the successor to Regional Measure 1, which was passed by voters 16 years ago in 1988. The revenue from these tolls funds a variety of bridge and transit improvements throughout the Bay Area, including a new span for the Benicia-Martinez Bridge (under construction), the just-opened westbound span of the Carquinez Bridge, widening of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge (opened 2002), BART extensions to Pittsburg/Bay Point and Dublin/Pleasanton (opened 1996–97), and improvements to Caltrain and Muni, among others.

The second dollar of the current $2 toll was added by the state Legislature in 1997 (effective January 1998) for critical seismic retrofit of five of the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges (Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Richmond-San Rafael, San Francisco-Oakland Bay and San Mateo-Hayward bridges). After the seismic retrofit work is completed, any remaining revenue from the second dollar may be used for transit projects in the bridge corridors. The second dollar is scheduled to remain in effect until 2038.

How were the projects in Regional Measure 2 (RM 2) chosen?
In 2002, the California Legislature initiated hearings on the subject of Bay Area traffic congestion. Spearheaded by Senator Perata, the Senate Select Committee on Bay Area Transportation reviewed traffic forecasts, such as an anticipated 50 percent increase in transbay travel by 2025, and determined that new investment in the bridge corridors, particularly new transit options, was needed, along with a new revenue source. The Committee also determined that greater coordination between the existing transit systems was needed. The Committee concluded that a toll increase was the most appropriate funding mechanism, and formed a public advisory committee to develop an expenditure plan.

The advisory committee consisted of representatives of transportation agencies from throughout the Bay Area, including transit operators and Caltrans, and business, environmental, and social equity organizations. The committee met on 15 occasions from June through December 2002 to hear project sponsors present ideas for providing new transit options and congestion relief in the bridge corridors. Individual projects were discussed and evaluated by the group based on performance measures, including:

• Proximity to bridge corridor
  
• Impact on congestion
  
• Number of new transit riders generated
  
• Cost-effectiveness
  
• Transit connectivity
  
• Project readiness
  
• Sustainability
  
• Environmental impacts
  
• Land-use opportunities
  
• Safety and social equity.

The groups findings coalesced into an initial expenditure plan that became the heart of Perata’s Senate Bill 916. The Legislature approved the bill in September 2003, paving the way for placing RM 2 on Bay Area ballots.

What happens if a project included in the plan runs into problems down the road? Can a new project be substituted?
Yes. The legislation permits the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to redirect the funds for a regional transit project within the same bridge corridor but only after the project sponsor is consulted and a public hearing is held.

How do we know that the transit operating funds will not be wasted on bad projects?
The projects that are listed as eligible for operating funds are required to meet certain performance measures related to ridership and cost-effectiveness. MTC is required to develop the performance measures in consultation with transit operators and the MTC citizens’ advisory council. Prior to receiving funds, project sponsors must submit an audited annual report to MTC that demonstrates the project’s financial feasibility and its attainment of performance measures. If a project does not meet the measures, MTC is required to set a date for the project to do so, and if the project fails to meet the performance measures by this deadline, MTC will redirect the funds to another project.

Who will allocate the toll revenue?
As the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency of the nine-county Bay Area, MTC will allocate the toll revenue. The Bay Area Toll Authority, a separate legal entity from MTC but with the same oversight board of elected officials, will be responsible for issuing bonds and for submitting periodic updates on the Regional Traffic Relief Plan to the state Legislature.

What was required for passage?
As a user fee rather than a tax, RM 2 required a simple majority (50 percent plus one) of the combined votes in the seven participating counties: San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano.

How does the state budget crisis relate to Regional Measure 2?
Not only is the state fiscal crisis threatening to undermine the region’s transportation network, but also Congress is debating the size and scope of federal transportation programs. RM 2 offered the region’s voters a chance to attain self-reliance — to proceed forward with building long-awaited congestion-relief and safety projects despite uncertainties at the state and federal levels.